Name: Kim Sun Ha Age: 18 (Born on March 12, 1919) Gender: Male Occupation: Japanese Korean Internment Camp as a laborer. Later becomes a Japanese soldier. Appearance: Dirty, short black hair, small eyes, skinny and tall. Location: Born and raised in Seoul, Korea. Becomes laborer in Hiroshima, Japan. Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: Smart, Kind, Respectful of elders and Responsible Family: Father- Kim Sung Hea (killed July 7,1937) Mother- Park Sun Ja (killed July 7,1937) Sister- Kim Yoon Shim (kidnapped August 12,1938) Education: PaiChai School (培材學堂), Couldn't complete education Languages: Korean and Japanese Main Concerns in life:Parents Death, Missing Sister, Severe health conditions Journal Entries
Entry 1: August 19, 1938
Everything has gone completely wrong and they were out of control. I was turning more insane and depressed everyday. Yesterday, I met Kim Sam Dong, who arrived at Hiroshima harbor with many other Japanese soldiers. One of these soldiers was Fuji Yamaguchi and he took Sam Dong, who looked as if he was in great pain. Each time Sam Dong tried to break away the intolerable soldiers beat Sam Dong instantly without hesitation. I soon noticed that Sam Dongwas came to Hiroshima to become a laborer. I was infuriated by the soldiers forcing the boy to move quickly on to the ship. I don’t know where my bravery came from, but I quickly persuaded my friends that I made in the labor camp to help the poor boy out. Me and my friends grabbed rocks and threw it at the soldiers and, we were able to knock out two soldiers. At this point, we thought we were going to be successful in the rescue; however, we were wrong. What happened to us next was extremely shocking. I realized that it was a huge mistake to mess with these men from the start. They used firearms to suppress us and and in an instant all of us were lying on the floor, bleeding and suffering in pain. We couldn’t breath properly and we were slowly dying. When I woke up, I was receiving treatment from a nurse near my camp. The nurse was Saeng Myeong, and surprisingly he was a Korean as well. He healed me completely and he mentioned that it was almost a miracle for me to be alive. I figured out later that I was the only survivor from the assault and this made me incredibly upset. I wasn’t happy at all for surviving from the attack and I regretted for asking my friends for help because, if it wasn't for my careless actions they would have still been alive.
The next day, I spent a huge amount of time thinking about what I have done. I think Sam Dong reminded me of the memories of the past I had with my younger sister Yoon Shim. Yoon Shim was the only family member that was left to me, after my parents went missing during the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 7, 1937. Before then me and my sister had a pleasant time together. I still remember the times when the Japanese soldiers went around visiting everyone's home to collect brass. Back then, I wasn't a laborer and our family faced small problems. However, this Marco Polo Bridge incident changed everything. It was a battle between the Chinese and Japanese and the battle arose by the Japanese troops crossing the China’s border. I am not sure why my parents disappeared at the time of this incident because, they left without any message to me and my sister. Later on, we assumed that they were dead and, we were forced to started a new life.
Life without our parents was truly difficult and, in many occasions we had to starve. We were poor and there were not many ways to get food. However, as me and my sister experienced many hardships, our situations started to gradually improve. As things started to turn out okay, on June 20, 1938, we were visited by several men, who from the Imperial Japanese Army forcing me to goto a labor camp. This may have been shocking for my sister but it wasn’t surprising for me. I was expecting for this day to come for a long time. I was miserable and enraged, but there was nothing I could do. I had to leave my sister alone and while I was leaving, I got the sense that I would never be able to see her again. I was going to miss her tremendously.
It has only been a year but it felt like so many things had changed. I knew that these changes were irreversible and I could do nothing to make things like the past, where I still went to school, lived with my family and had unlimited freedom. Entry 2: October 9, 1939
Yesterday, I was working hard like any other day in order to not to get beaten up by the guards. It has been more than a year since I’ve started working in this place and I’ve got used to it, but something happened yesterday that was going to change my life once more. An old Imperial Japanese officer, Minoru Oda, came to camp at noon and he took ordered many of the workers to become a part of their army. I was one of the many that were chosen, and at this time I didn’t know if this was going to improve my lifestyle or make it even worse. But I did know for sure that if I disobeyed officer Oda's orders that I would be brutally beaten up. I had no choice but to become a soldier. I became a Japanese soldier, which is what I hated the most. The amount of work I had in the army was far more than what I had to do in the camps. Moreover, army was a more strict place, I saw many being killed and battered because either disobeyed or failed to complete the orders. I had to train everyday and my job was to guard the laborers from escaping. It was easily noticeable that the japanese officer in-charge was very influential and powerful.
After trying to find what happened to Yoon Shim. I arrived at an answer that she was kidnapped by the Japanese soldiers and sent to a labor camp in China, not long after I moved into the labor camps myself. This made me incredibly sad and mad, both at the same time and I couldn't stop thinking about her. I was desperate to know if she was safe and I wanted to goto China to find her. I was worried about her because I heard rumors that all Korean girls being sent to Japan and China were being forced to become comfort women. This was unacceptable and I wanted to help her, but this was unrealistic.
Back in the army, many troops were continuously being sent towards China. I heard from other soldiers that Japan was losing to Chinese in the battle in the Changsha and Guangxi areas of Japan. This was very new, because Japan was never losing to China in any other battles before. The military base I was staying in was getting more and more empty each day. Entry 3: June 8, 1942
Its been over four years living as a Japanese soldier, and my Korean identity was lost. I knew how to speak Japanese fluently and I also knew how to survive in battles. I was a Imperial Army soldier of the 18th Division and my general was Minoru Oda. Oda led me into numerous deadly battlefields and he was a great military commander and he was successful in majority of the battles. The Japanese army was very powerful and had defeated many foreign countries. While there was an attack going on in Pearl Harbor, I was on my way to the first major battle in Philippines against the Americans after participating in a minor battle in Hong Kong. The invasion of Hong Kong was very short compared to any other military campaigns I have experienced. The battle had only lasted for 18 days, starting in December 8, 1941 to December 25, 1941. The reason for this was that the Japanese troops were over four times bigger in size compared to the British forces in Hong Kong. The Canadians came to reinforce the British army but they were inexperienced and therefore, they weren’t much of a help. What made me unpleasant in this battle was that there were many civilians involved in the battlefields and so, many of them were killed. It was recorded later that over 4000 civilians were killed and this made me depressed.
After I fought in Hong Kong, I was transported to Philippines to fight with the Americans. The objective was to invade Philippine because, it was crucial for communication in other conquered areas to Japan. It also had a purpose of stopping the Americans from becoming more strong and become a threat to Japan in the future. The war officially began in December 8, 1941 and it lasted for six months. Although the result of the war, was a decisive victory for the Japanese, living in Philippines was the most horrifying experience I ever had, since there were no breaks so it was impossible to sleep and take a rest. I was actually hoping for the Americans and the Philippines to win the war, but I guess that was just too much.
Another campaign that was going on at the same time as the Philippines was the Dutch East Indies Campaign. I heard that there campaign ended few months earlier than us and that they were victorious. I also heard that the Dutch army was much huger than the Japanese; however, they ended up having a hundred times more casualties. This was incredible and this made me realize that Japan was the possibly the strongest nation in the world. This made me sad since, the Koreans were now no longer any competition towards Japanese and therefore, had to follow Japan’s orders. Japanese remained undefeated so far.
Entry 4: April 29, 1946
Total disaster in Japan. Over the period of last four days two atomic bombs were dropped in Japan. The first bomb was called the "little dropped in Hiroshima on the 6th and the second bomb was dropped in Nagasaki on the 9th. Although, I wasn’t present to experience the bomb in neither cities, I felt the bomb as it went off. The bomb was extremely powerful and it turned everything in to dust. There was nothing left standing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and there over 220,000 people died. There were groups of survivors but many of them were faced huge problems with their body.
The bombs were dropped by the Americans and they were telling the Japanese to surrender. The Americans, British and Chinese, proposed Potsdam Declaration to Japan in July 26, 1945 which was a statement about surrendering in the war. It also stated that if the Empire of Japan did not surrender, they would be utterly destroyed. Along with my military general Minoru Oda, many others disagreed upon this statement. It was mainly because of the huge pride the Japanese had in themselves, since they considered themselves to be the strongest nation. However, the powe rof the atomic bomb forced the Japanese to surrender.
Until now, I have been hating Japanese for what they have done to my country. But after I’ve seen what the Americans have done to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I felt angry at the Americans for killing the innocent ones. The Japanese invading my country was a very upsetting; however, it would be unwise of me to consider all Japanese to be immoral and hate them all, because in reality the majority of the people weren’t involved in this act. After the bomb went off, my division returned to Hiroshima after months of fighting. Although I knew the power of the atomic bomb it was still very shocking and made me amused. Since I was at Hiroshima, I went to visit the labor camp and meet Sam Dong. Sam Dongwas from Korea and his situations were similar with mine, except for the fact that I was forced to be enlisted in the Imperial Army. I had to search for him for a long time because the camp was a big mess and since, there were large number of injured people in the camp. When I finally found him, he was with Saeng Myeong the medic. It was good to see them again, but Sam Dong was in a severe condition. He no longer had both arms and he looked as if he was experiencing great pain. He was barely able speak and his vision was bad as well. As I was looking at him suffer, my memories with my sister came up again. I was curious to find out if Yoon Shim was doing well and I was hoping that shenot affected by the bomb. It was heartbreaking since there was no way for me to find this out.
Yesterday, Japan met consequences for their crimes through the Tokyo trial. I was no longer able to meet Oda as he committed suicide right after Japan surrendered. Many were sentenced to death and others were charged with imprisonment for life, but personally I didn't think even death could justify their crimes. I wasn't a part of the 18th Division anymore and there was no more war. I have been part of the Imperial Army and wasted many years of my life, I was happy that I would be able to return to Korea some time soon and resume to my old life.
Kim Sun Ha
Name: Kim Sun Ha
Age: 18 (Born on March 12, 1919)
Gender: Male
Occupation: Japanese Korean Internment Camp as a laborer. Later becomes a Japanese soldier.
Appearance: Dirty, short black hair, small eyes, skinny and tall.
Location: Born and raised in Seoul, Korea. Becomes laborer in Hiroshima, Japan.
Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits:
Smart, Kind, Respectful of elders and Responsible
Family:
Father- Kim Sung Hea (killed July 7,1937)
Mother- Park Sun Ja (killed July 7,1937)
Sister- Kim Yoon Shim (kidnapped August 12,1938)
Education: PaiChai School (培材學堂), Couldn't complete education
Languages: Korean and Japanese
Main Concerns in life: Parents Death, Missing Sister, Severe health conditions
Journal Entries
Entry 1: August 19, 1938
Everything has gone completely wrong and they were out of control. I was turning more insane and depressed everyday. Yesterday, I met Kim Sam Dong, who arrived at Hiroshima harbor with many other Japanese soldiers. One of these soldiers was Fuji Yamaguchi and he took Sam Dong, who looked as if he was in great pain. Each time Sam Dong tried to break away the intolerable soldiers beat Sam Dong instantly without hesitation. I soon noticed that Sam Dongwas came to Hiroshima to become a laborer. I was infuriated by the soldiers forcing the boy to move quickly on to the ship. I don’t know where my bravery came from, but I quickly persuaded my friends that I made in the labor camp to help the poor boy out. Me and my friends grabbed rocks and threw it at the soldiers and, we were able to knock out two soldiers. At this point, we thought we were going to be successful in the rescue; however, we were wrong. What happened to us next was extremely shocking. I realized that it was a huge mistake to mess with these men from the start. They used firearms to suppress us and and in an instant all of us were lying on the floor, bleeding and suffering in pain. We couldn’t breath properly and we were slowly dying. When I woke up, I was receiving treatment from a nurse near my camp. The nurse was Saeng Myeong, and surprisingly he was a Korean as well. He healed me completely and he mentioned that it was almost a miracle for me to be alive. I figured out later that I was the only survivor from the assault and this made me incredibly upset. I wasn’t happy at all for surviving from the attack and I regretted for asking my friends for help because, if it wasn't for my careless actions they would have still been alive.
The next day, I spent a huge amount of time thinking about what I have done. I think Sam Dong reminded me of the memories of the past I had with my younger sister Yoon Shim. Yoon Shim was the only family member that was left to me, after my parents went missing during the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 7, 1937. Before then me and my sister had a pleasant time together. I still remember the times when the Japanese soldiers went around visiting everyone's home to collect brass. Back then, I wasn't a laborer and our family faced small problems. However, this Marco Polo Bridge incident changed everything. It was a battle between the Chinese and Japanese and the battle arose by the Japanese troops crossing the China’s border. I am not sure why my parents disappeared at the time of this incident because, they left without any message to me and my sister. Later on, we assumed that they were dead and, we were forced to started a new life.
Life without our parents was truly difficult and, in many occasions we had to starve. We were poor and there were not many ways to get food. However, as me and my sister experienced many hardships, our situations started to gradually improve. As things started to turn out okay, on June 20, 1938, we were visited by several men, who from the Imperial Japanese Army forcing me to goto a labor camp. This may have been shocking for my sister but it wasn’t surprising for me. I was expecting for this day to come for a long time. I was miserable and enraged, but there was nothing I could do. I had to leave my sister alone and while I was leaving, I got the sense that I would never be able to see her again. I was going to miss her tremendously.
It has only been a year but it felt like so many things had changed. I knew that these changes were irreversible and I could do nothing to make things like the past, where I still went to school, lived with my family and had unlimited freedom.
Entry 2: October 9, 1939
Yesterday, I was working hard like any other day in order to not to get beaten up by the guards. It has been more than a year since I’ve started working in this place and I’ve got used to it, but something happened yesterday that was going to change my life once more. An old Imperial Japanese officer, Minoru Oda, came to camp at noon and he took ordered many of the workers to become a part of their army. I was one of the many that were chosen, and at this time I didn’t know if this was going to improve my lifestyle or make it even worse. But I did know for sure that if I disobeyed officer Oda's orders that I would be brutally beaten up. I had no choice but to become a soldier. I became a Japanese soldier, which is what I hated the most. The amount of work I had in the army was far more than what I had to do in the camps. Moreover, army was a more strict place, I saw many being killed and battered because either disobeyed or failed to complete the orders. I had to train everyday and my job was to guard the laborers from escaping. It was easily noticeable that the japanese officer in-charge was very influential and powerful.
After trying to find what happened to Yoon Shim. I arrived at an answer that she was kidnapped by the Japanese soldiers and sent to a labor camp in China, not long after I moved into the labor camps myself. This made me incredibly sad and mad, both at the same time and I couldn't stop thinking about her. I was desperate to know if she was safe and I wanted to goto China to find her. I was worried about her because I heard rumors that all Korean girls being sent to Japan and China were being forced to become comfort women. This was unacceptable and I wanted to help her, but this was unrealistic.
Back in the army, many troops were continuously being sent towards China. I heard from other soldiers that Japan was losing to Chinese in the battle in the Changsha and Guangxi areas of Japan. This was very new, because Japan was never losing to China in any other battles before. The military base I was staying in was getting more and more empty each day.
Entry 3: June 8, 1942
Its been over four years living as a Japanese soldier, and my Korean identity was lost. I knew how to speak Japanese fluently and I also knew how to survive in battles. I was a Imperial Army soldier of the 18th Division and my general was Minoru Oda. Oda led me into numerous deadly battlefields and he was a great military commander and he was successful in majority of the battles. The Japanese army was very powerful and had defeated many foreign countries. While there was an attack going on in Pearl Harbor, I was on my way to the first major battle in Philippines against the Americans after participating in a minor battle in Hong Kong. The invasion of Hong Kong was very short compared to any other military campaigns I have experienced. The battle had only lasted for 18 days, starting in December 8, 1941 to December 25, 1941. The reason for this was that the Japanese troops were over four times bigger in size compared to the British forces in Hong Kong. The Canadians came to reinforce the British army but they were inexperienced and therefore, they weren’t much of a help. What made me unpleasant in this battle was that there were many civilians involved in the battlefields and so, many of them were killed. It was recorded later that over 4000 civilians were killed and this made me depressed.
After I fought in Hong Kong, I was transported to Philippines to fight with the Americans. The objective was to invade Philippine because, it was crucial for communication in other conquered areas to Japan. It also had a purpose of stopping the Americans from becoming more strong and become a threat to Japan in the future. The war officially began in December 8, 1941 and it lasted for six months. Although the result of the war, was a decisive victory for the Japanese, living in Philippines was the most horrifying experience I ever had, since there were no breaks so it was impossible to sleep and take a rest. I was actually hoping for the Americans and the Philippines to win the war, but I guess that was just too much.
Another campaign that was going on at the same time as the Philippines was the Dutch East Indies Campaign. I heard that there campaign ended few months earlier than us and that they were victorious. I also heard that the Dutch army was much huger than the Japanese; however, they ended up having a hundred times more casualties. This was incredible and this made me realize that Japan was the possibly the strongest nation in the world. This made me sad since, the Koreans were now no longer any competition towards Japanese and therefore, had to follow Japan’s orders. Japanese remained undefeated so far.
Entry 4: April 29, 1946
Total disaster in Japan. Over the period of last four days two atomic bombs were dropped in Japan. The first bomb was called the "little dropped in Hiroshima on the 6th and the second bomb was dropped in Nagasaki on the 9th. Although, I wasn’t present to experience the bomb in neither cities, I felt the bomb as it went off. The bomb was extremely powerful and it turned everything in to dust. There was nothing left standing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and there over 220,000 people died. There were groups of survivors but many of them were faced huge problems with their body.
The bombs were dropped by the Americans and they were telling the Japanese to surrender. The Americans, British and Chinese, proposed Potsdam Declaration to Japan in July 26, 1945 which was a statement about surrendering in the war. It also stated that if the Empire of Japan did not surrender, they would be utterly destroyed. Along with my military general Minoru Oda, many others disagreed upon this statement. It was mainly because of the huge pride the Japanese had in themselves, since they considered themselves to be the strongest nation. However, the powe rof the atomic bomb forced the Japanese to surrender.
Until now, I have been hating Japanese for what they have done to my country. But after I’ve seen what the Americans have done to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I felt angry at the Americans for killing the innocent ones. The Japanese invading my country was a very upsetting; however, it would be unwise of me to consider all Japanese to be immoral and hate them all, because in reality the majority of the people weren’t involved in this act. After the bomb went off, my division returned to Hiroshima after months of fighting. Although I knew the power of the atomic bomb it was still very shocking and made me amused. Since I was at Hiroshima, I went to visit the labor camp and meet Sam Dong. Sam Dongwas from Korea and his situations were similar with mine, except for the fact that I was forced to be enlisted in the Imperial Army. I had to search for him for a long time because the camp was a big mess and since, there were large number of injured people in the camp. When I finally found him, he was with Saeng Myeong the medic. It was good to see them again, but Sam Dong was in a severe condition. He no longer had both arms and he looked as if he was experiencing great pain. He was barely able speak and his vision was bad as well. As I was looking at him suffer, my memories with my sister came up again. I was curious to find out if Yoon Shim was doing well and I was hoping that shenot affected by the bomb. It was heartbreaking since there was no way for me to find this out.
Yesterday, Japan met consequences for their crimes through the Tokyo trial. I was no longer able to meet Oda as he committed suicide right after Japan surrendered. Many were sentenced to death and others were charged with imprisonment for life, but personally I didn't think even death could justify their crimes. I wasn't a part of the 18th Division anymore and there was no more war. I have been part of the Imperial Army and wasted many years of my life, I was happy that I would be able to return to Korea some time soon and resume to my old life.